Friday ramblings

Was reading Michael Nygard’s post on why enterprise applications suck and I couldn’t help but apply it to the one enterprise application that’s becoming close to my heart.

Any guesses?

He poses the question, why haven’t we found 1500-word postings about how much we love a particular enterprise app? I know there are VMS vendors that come to this blog, and if you sell one, what do your users rave about?

Before I go further, we should probably define the term “user.” Which cross-section of your users do have in the front of your mind when developing your software? Your clients? Your hiring managers? Your suppliers?

Lest I get labeled again as the Anti-VMS (which, I’m not…I would **love** to love VMS, I just haven’t found The One To Love yet), Michael Nygard’s post is about enterprise apps in general and lists the following reasons why users aren’t writing love essays about them.

They serve their corporate overlords, not their users.
VMS is sold on streamlining processes and also reporting capabilities. Perhaps it simplifies it for purchasing organizations. Perhaps its reporting capabilities give a sense of control. However, at the kernel of it all, is the hiring process. Are requisitions distributed more efficiently because of VMS? Are vendors submitting the best candidates, at the shortest time possible, because of VMS? Can you answer this from your suppliers’ point of view? Remember, your suppliers are your users, too.

They only do gray-suited, stolidly conservative things.
The post uses the example of corporate instant messaging. Let’s apply this to VMS. Oh no, she didn’t! You might say. Are you really talking about allowing staffing vendors talk to hiring managers? Yeah huh. It seems the whole idea is to make sure that doesn’t happen. Sure, vendors can get annoying, and yeah they tend to do “backdoor” stuff behind the VMO’s back, but if communication between right vendors (ie, the ones with legitimate reqs) and hiring managers is allowed, there would be no need to go behind the VMO’s back. Vendors don’t enjoy sneaking around. It’s exhausting, inefficient, and risky. But sometimes, a vendor’s gotta do to get the right information. So. How about it? How about something radical like built-in instant messaging client for VMS? Complete with “ignore” button. Heck. A vendor asks way too many stupid questions over IM? A vendor pings a hiring manager “just to say hello?” IGNORE. Too many “ignores” on a vendor? Kick them out.

Nygard goes on some more, but let me ask the question again. Do you have a VMS that you just absolutely love? We’re not talking VMO’s, just the software. Do you love it enough that you might blog about it? I’m not beyond writing about things I love. I’ve declared my love for all things Mac on many posts and around the blogosphere and yet I’m not being paid to do it, nor is Apple promising me any business.

I’m rambling here, but let me pose a question. How can the staffing industry create passionate users?

I watch the traffic on this blog and most are still coming here looking for information: “who are so and so’s clients?” Let’s get beyond this for a little bit. If you are a VMS company and you were to find that coveted list of VMS users here…what would you tell those potential clients? What makes you so awesome? What are your users raving about?